When We Grieve The Spirit

Though the Spirit of God be given to believers, and worketh in them, yet believers themselves may do or omit such things as may obstruct the working, and obscure the very being of the Spirit of God in them. … He dealeth with us in his evidencing and comforting work, as we deal with him in point of tenderness and obedience to his dictates; there is a grieving, yea, there is a quenching of the Spirit by the lusts and corruptions of those hearts in which he dwelleth; and though he will not forsake his habitation, as a Spirit of sanctification, yet he may for a time desert it as a Spirit of consolation, Psal. 51:11.

- John Flavel, from The Method of Grace in The Gospel Redemption, volume 2 of Works, page 334

The Method of Grace is a series of 35 sermons preached by Flavel found in volume 2 of the collected works.

Death, Greeted As Friend

“Must we put off these tabernacles? Is death necessary and inevitable? Then it is our wisdom to sweeten to ourselves that cup which we must drink; and make that as pleasant to us as we can which we know cannot be avoided. Die we must, whether we be fit or unfit, willing or unwilling: It is to no purpose to shrug at the name, or shrink back from the thing. In all ages of the world, death hath swept the stage clean of one generation, to make room for another, and so it will from age to age, till the stage be taken down, in the general dissolution.

But though death be inevitable by all, it is not alike evil, bitter,and dreadful to all. Some tremble, others triumph at the appearances of it. Some meet it half-way, receive it as a friend, and can bid it welcome, and die by consent; making that the matter of their election, which, in itself, is necessary and unavoidable; so did Paul, Phil. i. 23. But others are drawn, or rent by plain violence from the body. Job xxxvii. 1. when God draws out their souls.

That man is happy indeed, whose heart falls in with the appointment of God, so voluntarily and freely, as that he dare not only look death in the face with confidence, but go along with it by consent of will. Remarkable to this purpose, is that which the apostle asserts of the frame of his own heart, 2 Cor. v. 8. ‘We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord.’ “

-John Flavel, from A Treatise of the Soul of Man; works, volume 3, page 10

Ingratitude

I have heard it said that the greatest sin we commit is ingratitude. If you think about it, when we stop being thankful for what God has done for us, we become discontent and wanton. John Flavel preached a rather reproving sermon on ingratitude. Below is an excerpt.

Your ingratitude is the ready way to deprive you of the mercies you have, and to withhold from you the mercies you might have in your future distresses and wants. He that is ungrateful for mercies received, provokes God to remove them… If you are weary of your mercies, and willing to be rid of them, you cannot take a more effectual course than to forget from whom you had them, and withhold His praise for them.

Sure I am, there are some among you who have quickly forgotten the God that delivered you. Some that have abused him to his face, by ascribing his mercies to good luck, chance , and fortune: not once owning him as your deliverer. And some that have made his mercies weapons of sin, to wound him withal, wasting your estates by prodigality, which were given to refresh your families, and God’s poor; yea, abusing them to drunkenness and luxury. And is this the thanks you return to him? For which of all my good works (saith Christ to the Jews) do you stone me? So say I, for which of all God’s kindnesses to you, do you thus dishonour, and abuse him?

O let shame cover your faces this day! Go, reader, fold down this leaf, and get thee to thy knees, and say, I am the man to whom this reproof is sent. I have abused the God of my mercies, I have turned his grace into wantonness.

God forgive me!

Conscience, The Voice of God

I cannot recommend the works of John Flavel enough. He is simply brilliant. Below is an excerpt from a forty page appendix, if you can believe it, to a treatise he wrote on England’s Duty. This appendix is, again, forty pages commenting on Romans 1:18. He delves into the purpose of the conscience and its function as the divine ethical compass. I think we could throw in John 1:9 as more backup to his talk here. I’ve never liked the statement, “Let your conscience be your guide” mainly because the definition of the conscience seems to have evolved into “follow your heart” or “do what makes you happy” because if your happy, then you must have a clear conscience, right?

Well, Flavel is very helpful here. And in true Puritan style, he looks at the conscience as that part of man, made by God, to point man to God, and his law, which is in itself, God’s self-revelation. Here’s Flavel:

Conscience, therefore, is a high and awful power, it is…next and immediately under God, our judge; riding, as Joseph did in the second chariot. And concerning conscience, he saith to every man, as he did to Moses, with respect to Pharaoh, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, Exod. 7:1. The voice of conscience is the voice of God. What it bindeth or looseth on earth,…, is accordingly bound or loosed in heaven, 1 John 3:21. The greatest difference and precise obedience is due to its command. Its consolations are, of all, the most sweet, and its condemnations (only excepting those by the mouth of Christ in the last judgement) most terrible.

Zuinglius spake not without ground, when he said, “What death would I not rather chuse? What punishment would I not rather bear? Yea, into what a profound abyss of hell would I not rather enter, than to witness against my conscience?” It is like he had felt the terrors of it to be more bitter than death. How many have chosen strangling, rather than life, under the terrors of conscience? Wherever you go, conscience accompanies you; whatever you say, do, or but think, it registers and records, in order to the day of account.

When all friends forsake thee, yea, when thy soul forsakes thy body, conscience will not, cannot forsake thee. When thy body is weakest and dullest, thy conscience is most vigorous and active. Never more life in the conscience than when death makes its nearest approach to the body. When it smiles, cheers, acquits and comforts, oh, what a heaven it doth create within a man! And when it frowns, condemns, and terrifies, how doth it becloud, yea, benight all the pleasures, joy, and delights of this world?

O Conscience! how glad would the damned be to have taken their last farewell of thee, when they bid this world and all its inhabitants farewell, at death! And what had become of all the sufferers and martyrs, when shut up from friends in dungeons, had it not been for the cheering cordials and comforts thou there administered to support them!

It is certainly the best of friends, or the worst of enemies in the whole creation. This is conscience, these are its powers and offices………

- John Flavel, works vol. 3, page 272, Banner of Truth

Answering Questions of Apparent Paradox

John 20:17 says…..
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

I have always wondered why The Lord seems to reject Mary at this point when she is overcome with joy but encourages Thomas to touch Him to find the proof Thomas sought. This, at first glance appears to be a paradox or perhaps, a contradiction, maybe even somewhat discriminating. I found this great explanation from John Flavel (1627-1691).

“In which words we have Christ’s inhibition, “Touch me not:” Strange that Christ, who rendered himself so kind and tender to all, that not only admitted, but commanded Thomas to put his finger into his wounds, should forbid Mary to touch him; but this was not for want of love to Mary; for he gives another reason for it presently, “I am not yet ascended;” i.e. say some, the time for embracing will be when we are in heaven. Then and there shall be the place and time, we shall embrace one another for evermore. So Augustin. Or, thou dotest too much upon my present state, as if I had now attained the very….culminating point of my exaltation. When as yet I am not ascended; so Cameron and Calvin expound it. Or lastly, Christ would signify hereby that it was not his will and pleasure in so great a juncture of things as this, to spend time now in expressing (this way) her affections to him; but rather to shew it by hastening about his service.”

-John Flavel, Works of; Volume 1, page 502

What do you think of Flavel’s reasoning here? Do you agree, disagree, have any other thoughts or explanation?

Record the Providences

“If Christians in reading the scriptures would judiciously collect and record the providences they meet with there, and (if destitute of other helps) but add those that have fallen out in their own time and experience; O what a precious treasure would these make! How would it antidote their souls against the spreading atheism of these days, and satisfy them beyond what many other arguments can do, that The Lord he is God, the Lord he is God.”

Believe it or not, this was actually written over 330 years ago by the Puritan John Flavel (1627-1691) from a work entitled, The Mystery of Providence

Christ, The Life of Faith

We cannnot act spiritually till we begin to live spiritually: Therefore the spirit of life must first join himself to us, in his quickening work,…. which being done, we begin to act spiritually, by taking hold upon, or receiving Jesus Christ……..The soul is the life of the body, faith is the life of the soul, and Christ is the life of faith.

-John Flavel, Volume 2, The Works of John Flavel, Banner of Truth Trust

Readiness For Suffering

We should take the opportunity in the time of peace to prepare ourselves for the time of suffering. Our minds need be trained that they may hold at bay the ravages of the hearts deceit in the times of trouble, lying to us, trying to convince us to relinquish our faith and turn to sin which may satisfy for the moment. We may, and must look at the times of peace as only a training period and a stage of equipping ourselves for the suffering which is promised us. We are to look forward to the dark clouds of providence while still in the moment of illuminating light, taking advantage of girding up our loins while we may yet see. For we must go through the dark that we may be taught to walk by faith and not by sight.

-The Works of John Flavel, Volume 6, page 17

Christ is Our Glory

This was posted over at The Oak Log this morning. Very good!

Let Christ but manifest himself, and dart the beams of his light into their souls, and it will make them kiss the stake, sing in the flames, and shout in the pangs of death, as men that divide the spoil. Studying Christ stamps a heavenly glory upon the contemplating soul. How little do we know of Christ, in comparison with what we might have known! O, how much time is spent in other studies and worldly employments; but how little in the search and study of Jesus Christ! O then, separate, devote, and wholly give yourself, your time, and your strength to this most sweet, transcendent study.

-John Flavel, The Fountain of Life

HT: Chris Power

Flavel on Studying Christ

It is the most sweet and comfortable knowledge; to be studying Jesus Christ, what is it but to be digging among all the veins and springs of comfort? and the deeper you dig, the more do these springs flow upon you. How are hearts ravished with the discoveries of Christ in the gospel? what ecstasies, meltings, transports, do gracious souls meet there? Doubtless, Philip’s ecstasy,John i. 25. “We have found Jesus,” was far beyond that of Archimedes. A believer could sit from morning to night, to hear discourses of Christ…

-John Flavel, Volume 1, page 36